Adapter for mounting cable hangers

ABSTRACT

An adapter for mounting cable hangers includes: a floor, a ceiling and side walls that span the floor and ceiling, wherein the ceiling includes a mounting hole; and a cross-member that extends between the side walls that defines at least one window between the cross-member, the floor and one of the side walls.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/686,882, filed Jun. 19, 2018, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to devices for supporting cablesand, in particular, to hangers for securing cables to supportstructures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cable hangers are commonly used to secure cables to structural membersof antenna towers and/or along tunnel walls. Generally, each cable isattached to a structural member by cable hangers mounted atperiodically-spaced attachment points.

Antenna towers and/or tunnels may be crowded due to the large numbers ofcables required for signal-carrying. Over time, as systems are added,upgraded and/or expanded, installation of additional cables may berequired. To conserve space, it may be desirable for each set of cablehangers to secure more than a single cable. Certain cable hangers havebeen constructed to secure multiple cables; other cable hangers have astackable construction that permits multiple cable hangers to beinterlocked extending outwardly from each mounting point/structuralmember. Stacked and multiple-cable-type cable hangers significantlyincrease the number of cables mountable to a single attachment point.

One popular stackable cable hanger is discussed in U.S. Pat. No.8,191,836 to Korczak, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedherein in its entirety. Hangers disclosed therein have generally a U- orC-shaped profile with rounded arms. A locking projection extends fromthe free end of each arm, and the “root” of the hanger that spans thefixed ends of the arms has a large aperture. The hanger can hold a cablebetween the arms; gripping of the cable is enhanced by short fingersthat extend inwardly from the arms to engage the cable. The lockingprojections of a hanger are inserted into a hole in the antenna tower(typically in the leg of the antenna tower) to secure the hanger to thetower. Hangers can be “stacked” onto each other by inserting the lockingprojections of one hanger into the large aperture of the next hanger.One variety of cable hanger of this type is the SNAP-STAK® hanger,available from CommScope, Inc. (Joliet, Ill.). Other cable hangers areshown in U.S. Pat. No. 9,866,004, issued Jan. 4, 2018, U.S. Pat. No.9,853,434, issued Dec. 26, 2017, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,903,510, issuedFeb. 27, 2018, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in full.

In some instances, it may be desirable to mount multiple stacks of cablehangers in close proximity. In such instances, it may be desirable toemploy an adapter, such as that shown at 10 in FIG. 1. The adapter 10has a trapezoidal profile, with a base panel 12 and threeserially-attached mounting panels 14. Each of the mounting panels 14includes a mounting hole 16 (typically a nominal ¾ inch hole) that canreceive a cable hanger such as those described above, one of which isdesignated 20 in FIG. 2. The base panel 12 of the adapter 10 has a hole18 that can be used to mount the adapter 10 to a mounting structure viaa bolt. The base panel 12 also includes slots 22 on either side of thehole 18 that can receive a hose clamp 26 or the like to mount theadapter 10 to a pole 24, as shown in FIG. 3. This mounting approach maybe desirable when the pole 24 has no pre-formed holes to receive atypical cable hanger.

Areas near cellular antennas (i.e., within 1λ, or one wavelength) can be(relatively) high radio frequency (RF) energy environments. Conductiveitems in these areas, such as hangers and other hardware, can generateundesirable passive intermodulation (PIM). Typical examples of potentialPIM-generating conditions include the combination of steel-on-steelcontact (between two or more components), plus low contact pressureand/or relative movement between the steel components at the joint. Assuch, it may be desirable to provide solutions for hanging cables withreduced (or eliminated) likelihood of PIM generation.

SUMMARY

As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to anadapter for mounting cable hangers. The adapter comprises a floor, aceiling and side walls that span the floor and ceiling, wherein theceiling includes a mounting hole. The adapter further comprises across-member that extends between the side walls that defines at leastone window between the cross-member, the floor and one of the sidewalls.

As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to anassembly comprising a mounting structure; first and second adapters asdescribed above, a first radial clamp routed through the window of thefirst adapter and the window of the second adapter. The first radialclamp secures the first and second adapters to the mounting structure.

As a third aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to anadapter for mounting cable hangers comprising: a floor; a ceiling; andside walls that span the floor and ceiling. The ceiling includes amounting hole. The adapter further includes means to affix the adapterto a mounting structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art adapter for cable hangers.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the adapter of FIG. 1 with a cable hangermounted therein.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the adapter of FIG. 1 mounted to a polevia a hose clamp.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of an adapter for cable hangersaccording to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the adapter of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective section view of the adapter of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the adapter of FIG. 4 mounted to a mountingstructure via two hose clamps.

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of three adapters of FIG. 4 mounted to amounting structure with a common hose clamp.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. Thisinvention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to the embodiments that are pictured anddescribed herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of the invention to those skilled in the art. It will also beappreciated that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in anyway and/or combination to provide many additional embodiments.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms that areused in this disclosure have the same meaning as commonly understood byone of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Theterminology used in the below description is for the purpose ofdescribing particular embodiments only and is not intended to belimiting of the invention. As used in this disclosure, the singularforms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms aswell, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also beunderstood that when an element (e.g., a device, circuit, etc.) isreferred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it canbe directly connected or coupled to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element,there are no intervening elements present.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-7, an adapter for mounting cable hangers,designated broadly at 100, is shown therein. The adapter 100 includes afloor 102, a ceiling 104 opposite the floor 102, and two side walls 106that span the floor and the ceiling 104. As can be seen in FIG. 5, thefloor 102 is narrower in width than the ceiling 104, such that each ofthe side walls 106 defines a trapezoidal or “wedge” shape. Four feet 108a-108 d extend from the floor 102; in the illustrated embodiment, thefeet 108 a, 108 b are located at two of the corners of the floor 102,whereas the feet 108 c, 108 d are located on the opposite edge from thefeet 108 a, 108 b but are offset somewhat from the side walls 106 (inother embodiments, all four feet 108 a-d may be located at the fourcorners of the floor 102). As shown in FIG. 4, the ceiling 104 includesa central hole 110; in some embodiments, the hole 110 is nominally ¾inch in diameter, and thus is sized for the insertion of cables hangerssuch as that shown at 20 in FIG. 2. Parallel reinforcing ribs 112 arealso present on the ceiling 104.

The adapter 100 also includes a cross-member 114 that extends betweenthe side walls 106 near the floor 102. A divider 116 extends between thecross-member 114 and the floor 102. The floor 102, cross-member 114 anddivider 116 create two windows 118.

In some embodiments, the adapter 100 is formed of a polymeric material,such as acetal, polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, or the like. Theadapter 100 may be formed by injection molding. In the illustratedembodiment, the positioning of the feet 108 a-d and the orientation ofthe ribs 112 and the windows 118 can enable the injection molding of theadapter 100 with a simple reciprocating mold that requires no“side-action” mechanism.

As can be seen in FIG. 7, the windows 118 serve as receptacles for hoseclamps 120 or other fastening devices, such as other radial clampingdevices like straps, cable ties, and twist ties, clips and the like. Thetwo hose clamps 120 shown in FIG. 7 are routed through respectivewindows 118 and around a mounting structure, such as a post 122 of anantenna mount, a monopole, or the like. The feet 108 a-d contact thesurface of the mounting structure 122 to provide a more stablefoundation for the adapter 100. Once mounted on the mounting structure,the adapter 100 is positioned to serve as a mounting point (via thecentral hole 110) for a cable hanger, such as that shown in FIG. 2.Adapters 100 formed of a polymeric material can be used to mount ametallic cable hanger without creating a potential site of undesirablePIM. Of course, those skilled in this art will appreciate that thepolymeric cables hangers, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No.10,253,906, issued Apr. 9, 2019 (incorporated by reference in fullherein), may also be employed.

As shown in FIG. 8, multiple adapters 100 can be mounted at the sameelevation with a single hose clamp 120 (or pair of hose clamps 120).Each of the hose clamps 120 is simply routed through one of the windows118 of each adapter 100 and secured around the mounting structure 122.The trapezoidal profile of the adapter 100 can help to increase ofmaximize the number of adapters 100 placed side-by-side around themounting structure 100.

It will also be appreciated that the adapter 100 may be configured suchthat the side walls 106 may include holes for mounting a cable hanger.Further, in some embodiments, the “open” sides of the adapter 100 may beat least partially closed with side walls, which side walls may includeholes for mounting additional cable hangers.

The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to beconstrued as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of thisinvention have been described, those skilled in the art will readilyappreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplaryembodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings andadvantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications areintended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined inthe claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, withequivalents of the claims to be included therein.

That which is claimed is:
 1. An adapter for mounting cable hangers,comprising: a floor, a ceiling and side walls that span the floor andceiling, wherein the ceiling includes a mounting hole; and across-member that extends between the side walls that defines at leastone window between the cross-member, the floor and one of the sidewalls.
 2. The adapter defined in claim 1, further comprising a dividerthat extends between the floor and the cross-member to define a secondwindow.
 3. The adapter defined in claim 1, formed of a polymericmaterial.
 4. The adapter defined in claim 1, further comprising feetextending from the floor.
 5. The adapter defined in claim 1, wherein themounting hole has a nominal diameter of ¾ inch.
 6. The adapter definedin claim 1, wherein the side walls are trapezoidal in shape.
 7. Theadapter defined in claim 1, in combination with a radial clamp routedthrough the window.
 8. The combination defined in claim 7, wherein theradial clamp is secured to a mounting structure.
 9. The adapter definedin claim 1, further comprising a cable hanger mounted to the mountinghole.
 10. The adapter defined in claim 9, further comprising a cablemounted in the cable hanger.
 11. An assembly, comprising: a mountingstructure; first and second adapters as defined in claim 1; a firstradial clamp routed through the window of the first adapter and thewindow of the second adapter, the first radial clamp securing the firstand second adapters to the mounting structure.
 12. The assembly definedin claim 11, wherein the mounting structure is a post of an antennamount.
 13. The assembly defined in claim 11, wherein the mountingstructure is a monopole.
 14. The assembly defined in claim 11, whereinthe first and second adapters are formed of a polymeric material. 15.The assembly defined in claim 11, further comprising first and secondcable hangers mounted, respectively, in the holes of the first andsecond adapters.
 16. The assembly defined in claim 15, furthercomprising first and second cables mounted, respectively, in the firstand second cable hangers.
 17. The assembly defined in claim 11, whereineach of the first and second adapters further comprises a divider thatextends between the floor and the cross-member to define a secondwindow, and wherein the assembly further comprises a second radial clampthat is routed through the second windows of the first and secondadapters.
 18. An adapter for mounting cable hangers, comprising: afloor; a ceiling; and side walls that span the floor and ceiling;wherein at least one of the ceiling and the side walls includes amounting hole; and wherein the adapter further includes means to affixthe adapter to a mounting structure.
 19. The adapter defined in claim18, formed of a polymeric material.
 20. The adapter defined in claim 18,in combination with a mounting structure and with a cable hangerinserted into the mounting hole.